Copyright & Media Update 10/11/2019

October 11, 2019

‘Nobody Is Scrutinizing This’: How Labels Pay to Get Songs on the Radio 

ROLLING STONE: Last year, “Luke,” a music-industry veteran who oversees label radio campaigns, received a dispiriting message: A onetime “starter station” — a radio outlet willing to give a song a chance before it’s a proven hit — was now working with an independent promoter. The new relationship meant that the independent promoter controlled access to the radio station, and Luke had to pay to get one of his artists added to the station’s playlist. READ MORE… 

U.S. Congress Is Getting Involved In Spotify’s Complaint Against Apple   

DIGITAL MUSIC NEWS: Just ahead of the weekend, U.S. Congress officially requested information from Spotify as part of a broader antitrust investigation being conducting on Apple. The Congressional inquiry aims to determine if Apple employs anti-competitive behavior in support of its own music streaming service, Apple Music, which is Spotify’s biggest competitor. Earlier this year, Apple Music surpassed Spotify in the U.S., in terms of paying subscribers. READ MORE… 

Revisiting Don’t Download This Song by Weird Al 

PLAGIARISM TODAY: The early-to-mid 2000s were a strange time for copyright in the United States. Napster had been launched in June 1999 and, though it only survived until July 2001, it forever changed the piracy landscape. READ MORE… 

Dollywood Sued For Use of Copyrighted ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ Holiday Song 

THE BOOT: Dolly Parton‘s theme park, Dollywood, is facing a new lawsuit over the use of holiday classic “Christmas Time is Here,” TMZ reports. Lee Mendelson, who is the executive producer of the classic Peanuts animated television specials, co-wrote the song, which is prominently featured in the 1965 animated holiday special, A Charlie Brown Christmas. READ MORE… 

Global Music Rights Sues Entravision for Copyright Infringement 

VARIETY: Global Music Rights filed a lawsuit in California federal court today accusing Entravision Communications of willful copyright infringement.  The lawsuit alleges that, over two years, Entravision stations played more than 130 copyrighted songs nearly 15,000 times without paying songwriters, according to a statement issued by GMR. The company says it made five separate written proposals to Entravision but received no response. READ MORE… 

Is There a Fairer Way for Streaming Services to Pay Artists? 

 PITCHFORK: When you buy an album, some of that money goes directly to the artist. But with streaming, the royalty breakdown works very differently: Subscription dollars go into one big pool and are doled out to artists based on how many times their songs are streamed across a given service. So even if you only listened to Purple Mountains all month, your subscription dollars will still end up lining the pocketbooks of Post Malone. It’s a little like the Electoral College, where a quick and dirty method of tallying represents a more complicated reality. READ MORE… 

How music publishers can prepare for Mechanical Licensing Collective Database | Opinion 

TENESSEEAN: Now that the U.S. Copyright Office has designated the NMPA, NSAI, and SONA-backed Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) to begin implementation of the Music Modernization Act (MMA), the time has come for the music publishing industry to get its act together regarding data. READ MORE… 

SoundExchange Website to Let Artists Search and Claim Unmatched Recordings 

BILLBOARD: In a move to bring more transparency and potentially help reduce black-box royalties, SoundExchange is updating its website to allow artists and labels to now see all recordings currently associated with their accounts, as well as allowing them to search and claim recordings in the organization’s pending and unmatched database. READ MORE… 

About Christian Copyright Solutions: CCS’s quest is to help churches and Christian ministries “do music right.”  CCS is an expert on church music copyrights and our primary focus is providing licensing and clear educational resources to churches. Follow us onTwitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. The information contained herein is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice or a substitute for legal counsel.

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